Émile ZOLA. L.A.S., Médan May 25, 1879, [to Jules Laffitte]; 2pages in-8. Beautiful letter to the editor of Le Voltaire (which will publish Nana in October), about the publication in the journal of Sous la hache by Élémir Bourges. "My dear colleague, I'm writing to Bourges. On your side, give him an appointment, to get it over with. I had told him that we would give him three sous per line; it seems to me that it is very difficult to lower this price, which is a current price; we don't give less to the last of the feuilletonnistes. It's not because this boy is poor and unknown that you have to bargain with him for his talent. I believe that the success of Voltaire lies in the young, in those who will be the men of tomorrow, and not in the worn-out men of today. As for the replies to my Lettre à la jeunesse, I would have been delighted if they had been published. I simply told you that I was astonished to hear you mention a reply, when my letter had only half appeared. On the other hand, I would have liked, being at home at the Voltaire, to have known about this reply and to have prefaced it with a word, to show your readers that you were giving it with my assent"...